Darkness Falling
by Mirikizu
Summary: The daughter of a pair of star-crossed lovers gets caught in another dimension. While her family is attempting to destroy Naraku, what kind of trouble will she get into in the present? Note: Authorized repost.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **This is a COMPLETE rewrite, so bear with me. I wrote this back in '05, and have only recently begun editing. It will take forever, but for those of you willing to wait, it's definitely (in my personal opinion, at least) worth it.

**Disclaimer: **This is for the entire fic (since I'm rather forgetful and won't put it in every time). I own neither InuYasha nor Yu Yu Hakusho, only my originals. That is all. Enjoy!

**Darkness Falling: Prologue**

_History tells of an era in Japan called the Sengoku Jidai: the Era of the Warring States. History considers this era just like any other feudal era, and like any other feudal era, it has its hiccups, its...blank spots.  
History recounts proven facts from the winner's standpoint._ Legends _tell of everything else._

_It all started with a small, pink stone. This stone was formed not by the earth, but by a human. Many, many years before, a miko battled with three very powerful demons. The only way to stop them was to trap them within her own soul, forming the Shikon no Tama. This tama was protected by miko throughout the ages. One such miko is where this part of the tale begins..._

_Years before me, a miko lived in a feudal village in the West. This miko was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Any demon that came near it was killed by her power-loaded arrows, but for some reason, she could not bring herself to kill a single hanyou, even though he tested her patience numerous times. Soon, though, that reason became clear._

_The miko and the hanyou. What a wonderful, forbidden couple. Did they ever realize what would happen to such star-crossed lovers as themselves? Did they ever wonder what would happen to a child of their union? Both were orphans. Did they ever think for one moment that their fate would not descend upon their children?_

_The hanyou had promised her he would wish upon the tama to become a human so that they could be together always. But they did not include fate, nor evil, in their equations. Evil incarnate had heard of the miko's weakness, and, perhaps partially jealous of her lover, disguised himself in his attempted to steal the tama, inflicting a fatal wound upon her as he told her how he would use the tama to become a full demon, as he had originally planned. The miko hunted down her lover and used her remaining strength to seal him to the Goshinboku._

_That is where the legend stops. But it is not, by far, the end of the story. It is only where_ my _own begins..._


	2. Chapter 1

Kikyou stumbled and almost fell, bleeding severely from a wound in her side. She gasped in pain, crawling farther. Still, it was a lot less far to her sister than before. Her bow had fallen from her hand long ago. It was yew, so it should last, at least long enough to tell Kaede everything, anyway.

She gasped, crawling farther, and then finally collapsed. "Kaede…sister…Please hurry…" She infused her plea with a bit of her last magic, which she was hoarding it for one last feat she hoped would fix what she had ruined.

Kaede came running, a sixth sense having prompted her to search. The younger sister heard Kikyou's whispers, and sprinted the last two hundred feet to her prone form. "What is it, Kik--NO! Kikyou, what happened?!" Kaede fell to her sister's side. There was so much blood.

"Do not interrupt me. I have little strength." She paused as Kaede nodded, breathing heavily with intermittent coughing fits. "Listen carefully. InuYasha hurt me. Badly. I wouldn't give him the jewel, so he tried to take it. I have pinned him to the Goshinboku. I couldn't bear to kill him. He will last. But I will not. Burn my body and the jewel, but birth my daughter. She must live. Though she will be premature, my magic should hold her still when time would not. Protect her with your life, Kaede. She is the last of the line. Keep her safe. I love you both. I shall try to protect you from the other side. And …" She coughed up blood. "Tell him," she coughed again," if he wakes…" She lay back so that Kaede had to lean close to hear. "Aishiteru…" And then Kikyou was gone.

If there was any sadder funeral, speak now or forever hold your peace. Kaede lay her sister on the pyre with the grief of one who has lost everything dear to her, one by one. Kikyou's ashes were scattered to the four winds, weighed down with tears – perhaps the reason her soul was so easy to catch later on. The younger sister had birthed her niece, amazed that she didn't try to squall. Just a slight rising of her chest was the only evidence she was even alive at all.

This went on for thirty-three years (a sacred number), the small child's chest the only moving part of the girl. But finally, on that anniversary of her birth, Kaede tickled her feet, as she did every week, and was amazed to hear an in-drawn breath, the magickal coma finally having worn off. The elderly woman blinked repeatedly, only just remembering to pat the baby's bottom to force her airways open.

"Village, come quickly!" Kaede yelled out the door above the child's squalling.

All the villagers dropped their things, not believing their ears. The child had awoken! They all redoubled their pace, appearing at Kaede's door soon after the summons.

"Kikoru is alive!" The shouts of the villagers penetrated even InuYasha's sleep, for the next seventeen years he could only be seen with a smile.

Because the child was only six months in the womb – demon though she was – the girl never could quite keep up height with the other children. She was always short. But to make up for lack in height, she was always strong, lithe, and silent. Whenever the children played games, such as hide and seek, if she was "it", she would find them all, considering her handy-dandy dog ears perched atop her thick skull. But if she hid, she couldn't be found.

She kept her black hair in a long plait down her back, out of her way during her many escapades. Grey amber-speckled eyes kept track of everything around her, even when she was off in her own world. Her oversized black-furred haori was donated by a shadow wolf clan she befriended when she was four, and allowed her some camouflaging abilities in the forest around the village.

When the girl was six, she started coming into her powers. Her demon senses arose, granting her various powers from both her unknown father and beloved, though unremembered, mother. She felt the presence of demons in the forest, the closest and most benign of them the one who did not move. She sought his aura every day, finding an odd comfort around him. She pretended he was her father as she ran around the Goshinboku and hid in the large roots. She loved those games best.

Since she was old enough to understand, she had learned of her mother. And since then she had listened to the story of her birth. But she was never told who her father was. Thus intrigued, she vowed (upon learning exactly what a "vow" was) that she would one day find him and reunite their family, though she never realized how close they had been, she and her father, for as long as he had been there with her.

Every four weeks, the girl went through a change. Because she was a hanyou, every new moon she changed into her human form, the only noticeable difference being her lack of ears and superhuman strength and speed. She could always be found outside during those nights, if anyone could find her at all, that is.

Then again, no-one ever thought to look under the roots of the giant tree aptly named Goshinboku,. Her seventh birthday fell on a full moon, so it was on this night she was in her usual spot under the shelter of InuYasha's less-than-watchful gaze. She thought of her mother, and of her father, and soon she had glowing hands. The roots seemed to have a life of their own, and yet were somehow under her control.

"Wow…" she whispered, the first word she had uttered all afternoon. She giggled, moving the roots like huge marionettes, and the rocks flew up and danced a little jig. The water rose up from an underground spring and gathered in a depression at her feet, and the wind made ripples on the water. Flames darted under the surface of the tiny pool, and a picture of her mother appeared on the mirror-like surface.

"Mother? Is that you, Mother?" the seven-year-old questioned the face in the pool.

"Kikoru? What have you done, daughter?" The woman looked sternly at the girl. The plans of the gods could very well be destroyed because of a meddling child's magic.

"I miss you, Mommy! Can't you come back?"

"I wish I would, Kikoru! But it would upset the balance. Kaede should have started your training by now. Why are you meddling?" Her mother was teary-eyed. Being able to see your child for the first time tended to do that to a woman.

"I suppose it will start tomorrow…" Kikoru looked too interested in her mother to pay attention to much else.

"Why hasn't she started yet?"

"I couldn't do anything, Mama! This is the first time anything's worked!"

"Sweet gods. You are my daughter! And how much like your father you look!"

Kikoru's doglike ears flattened against her head. "Who is Father, Mama?"

"You'll find out soon enough, child," Kikyou said absently, attention suddenly elsewhere. "I must go. I love you, Kikoru! More than anything I want to be there to watch you grow up!"

"Can't you still watch me, Mama?"

"I can, but it's not the same, child. But you keep yourself now, do you hear?"

"I hear you Mama! Aishiteru!"

Kikyou looked away again, shooting furtive glances behind and to the left of the viewing portal. "I must go. I have been away too long. But do not worry, daughter. I always watch. Aishiteru, dearling."

A single tear fell from the child's eye, splashing in the pool. "Sayonara, Mama…"

"Always say goodnight, Kikoru. Never goodbye." Her mother's voice drifted across the portal just before it closed.

"Aishiteru, Mother. I'll keep, I promise…" She rose despondently, winked at her guardian InuYasha, and headed to the village. That night started a birthday tradition, but she would only speak to Kikyou until she was thirteen.


	3. Chapter 2

As her life progressed, Kikoru learned everything from herbs and magic to demons and beyond. In the mornings, she would study herbs with Kaede until noon. She learned a myriad of useful information. Where best to cultivate certain herbs, what purpose each plant had, be it medicinal or aesthetic. It seemed she had a certain aptitude for all plants, and Kaede took special pains to keep the child's interests keen.

After a break for lunch, Kikoru would learn to harness her newfound powers, both miko and demon. Kaede didn't know much about her demonic aspects, but it seemed that they were nature-oriented in any case. She deemed meditation the best route to control, and it seemed to work fairly well; excepting the creeping tarragon plants along the fences and overwhelming mint population, that is.

Her miko powers were another matter entirely. Kaede had presided over Kikyou's training when they were both little, and though Kaede had not inherited the power, she still remembered most of the techniques. Kaede found it quite simple to teach the willing Kikoru healing (both with and without the herbs the old woman loved so much), barrier-casting, and simple purification, though Kikoru's aura was never the pure pink Kikyou's was. Instead, it was a silvery green.

When Kikoru was thirteen, Kaede sent her to train at a dojo. The Hirokimi family that ran it was old as the hills, and still kept up their demon-slaying trade, even if their quarries' populations were failing. There, Kikoru met a girl only a few months older than herself. They got to be such good friends that they performed a special ritual known only to little girls, and thus they became blood sisters, closer even than family. It was only after several months that Kikoru realized her sister was anything other than normal, much less a child of her revered sensei.

"Hey Sango," Kikoru asked her friend after her fifteenth birthday, curiosity getting the better of her once again, "does one have to have a surname to go out into the world?" Her glamour twitched with her head, and for a moment her doglike ears could be seen. Not that Sango minded in the least. Kikoru was just another student here. No-one need know she was related to anyone other than the revered Kikyou.

"Not that I know of. But it might be a good idea. Why?" Sango looked at her sideways, one eyebrow quirked above the other. "Don't you have one?"

"No. I didn't think you did either!" Or maybe it was just that Kikoru never really paid attention during the first of the year's roll call.

"Of course I have one! Didn't you know?" Sango didn't mean to sound patronizing. It just sort of came out that way.

Kikoru shook her head, her sister's tone flying right over her head. "Nope!"

"It's Hirokimi, silly!"

Blink. Blink. Blink. "You're Sensei's daughter??"

"Yeah! I thought you knew that... We're still friends, right?" Sango looked a little hurt. She didn't want to be friends with someone just because she was Sensei's daughter – that's the way it had always been, and she had really hoped this time was different.

Kikoru actually laughed aloud, a sound Sango had previously thought completely out of character. "Of course! Nothing as trivial as a surname could ever break us up!"

"So…Do you want one? I'm sure we could think something up." She didn't want her sister thinking too much on it, but feeling left out was something Sango knew very well.

"Nah, I think I'll wait. I don't think you can choose your own until you're an adult anyway, right?"

"You're probably right. Keep thinking, though!"

~*~

By the time Kikoru was sixteen, she had risen to the top of her class. Her best performance was with her throwing knives, but she could put up a good struggle with any weapon, excepting Sango's own giant boomerang. She and her sister often sparred late at night after the others had gone to bed, having too much fun practicing to be tired.

The middle of the year swung around and passed them by, and soon she had completed her training. It had been a long and tiring process, but with the help of her sister, she had pulled through in record time. The Hirokimi family might not discriminate sexes upon accepting, but they nevertheless had differing standards between the two. Kikoru might not have been the best of the boys, but she was by far the best of the girls.

As if the weather sympathized with the sadness of their parting, the rain decided it would be a good idea to start just as Kikoru stepped outside. Even so, all she could think about was leaving her new-found sister. Both girls cried when she left, Sango with her heart-rending sobs and Kikoru with her trademark silent streams of tears.

"Promise to write?" Sango asked, holding her sister at arm's length as if to memorize her very being.

"I swear it," Kikoru intoned, hugging her one last time. "I'll miss you, Sango. Come visit me soon, alright? I would like to try that Hiraikotsu again."

"I will visit, once I finish my training!"

Regretfully, Sango let her free, and Kikoru took her leave.

Traveling through the wood on the way home later that week, in no hurry to return home, Kikoru took a whiff of the air and decided it might be a tad too boggy later in the afternoon. It was unusually quiet, so she took refuge in one of the larger oak's upper branches just as the rain hit. She breathed a sigh of relief. Getting her haori wet would not have been fun. A giggle came from a few branches up. Not wanting to startle the interloper she slowly moved her eyes until she could see a small kitsune. Apparently her antics were more amusing than she'd first thought.

"Hello, little one," she said, startling it. "Are you hiding from the rain, too?" The child nodded, shivering a bit. "Are you cold?" Another nod. "Then come here. Shall we keep each other safe until it's over?"

"If you say so." The boy sounded no older than ten. He crawled onto her lap and curled up into a ball, orange tail wrapping around her arm.

"What's your name, little one?" Kikoru kept her voice down so as not to run him off. He still seemed a bit skittish.

"Shippou," he muttered into her haori.

"I'm Kikoru. It's nice to meet you." She smiled a bit. "Why are you out this late, Shippou? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"I have no home," he sniffled, almost inaudible over the rain.

"Oh, you poor thing! Can you tell me what happened?"

"The Thunder Brothers took my papa," he sobbed.

Not that she had any clue who they were, but still. "Oh! How horrible!" She hugged him close. "Do you want to stay with me for a while?"

"Would you mind?" His hopeful gaze broke her heart. Poor kit.

She smiled and shook her head. "Nope! I'm heading home, but you can come along, if you will."

"I do will!"

It didn't normally take this long to go home, but Kikoru decided it was better to give Shippou the company than hurry home. Besides which, her birthday wasn't for weeks yet, and she needed to kill some time. Kaede didn't expect her home until the day of, anyway. Instead, she concentrated on becoming good friends with Shippou.

He taught her a few of his illusions, and though foxfire was a little out of her league, she could make anything disappear in the blink of an eye – not just with sleight of hand, either! In payment for his teaching services, Kikoru taught him how best to escape an assailant, no matter what weapon they used. Once away, Shippou could ideally use the vantage point to pelt his attacker with foxfire. Or just run away, which was more in line with the kit's current techniques.

Her timing impeccable as always, Kikoru led Shippou into the village on the morning of the fiftieth anniversary of her birth; or her seventeenth birthday as a coherent individual, whichever the case may be. Kaede performed a small coming-of-age ceremony about three hours after dawn, and then the unlikely duo was again on its way.

All along the winding road home, Kikoru had told Shippou every conceivable thought she had about her parents: who her mother was, how she'd created a portal into the spirit world, how much she didn't know about her father. Shippou had the bright idea to look for clues, and Kikoru jumped on the bandwagon right then and there.

A month on the road, Kikoru found no sign whatsoever of her father. No one knew much about the priestess Kikyou or her secret lover, only that a powerful woman had once guarded the sacred Shikon no Tama up until fifty years ago, and then suddenly was gone. It wasn't until the full moon that they stumbled upon someone who could tell her more than "I don't know."

Shippou's nose had gone on overload a few days before. He said he'd smelt way too much youkai for comfort, and he scampered away after supper that night. Over the next day and a half it had become increasingly lonely without the kitsune's constant chatter, and increasingly obvious why he'd fled. By the end of the day, her luck had caused her to bump into the very youkai he'd run from: a great demon lord and his entourage.


	4. Chapter 3

Weeks later, Kikoru finally returned to her travels, much more informed than when she'd set out. She had tried to leave the day she'd arrived but for Rin's insisting upon Kikoru teaching her to fight. Agreeing to teach Rin led to finding out she had an uncle. And the reason she didn't stay longer? She had finally found the end of her quest.

The day of her arrival had been a rather hectic one. Rin had frolicked onto the scene, too busy looking for wildflowers to even realize she was there. Jaken was a bit more observant, and shot a fireball at her before Kikoru could wave the prodigal white flag. She pounced on him in fury, and had him trussed up tighter than a blowfly in a spider's web before he could say "uncle". The irony of the situation? A rather large, silver-haired demon picked her up as if she were a feather and glared into one eye.

"Who are you to accost this Sesshoumaru's manservant?" he demanded, aristocratic voice irking his captive to no end. Rin was untying the unfortunate sidekick as he spoke.

"Am I right to assume you're the Lord of the West?" Kikoru demanded right back. He didn't answer, so she went on. "You wouldn't by chance know the identity of Kikyou's lover, would you?"

And that's when he dropped her in shock.

"Uncle?" Kikoru had queried a few weeks after their meeting. She wasn't sure if he had recognized her by sight, smell, or name, but she was bound and determined to find out.

"Yes? What is it?" His amber eyes had pierced her grey ones, his silver hair falling gracefully down his back.

"Who are you in relation to my parents?" She had related what she knew of her birth when she'd first arrived.

Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, gazing off into the distance. "I was…I knew your mother by reputation," he said finally. "She was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama and I a full-blooded demon, so we didn't 'mingle' often." Sesshoumaru tended to lose his formality after a while. And just when she was getting used to it, too!

"That makes you my father's brother then?" It wasn't quite a question, though the almost-tangible hope made it so. "Can you tell me who he is?"

"I should think you would know, living next to him all your life."

"What in the seven hells are you talking about?" she demanded, a slight tremor to her voice now that the answer was so close.

"Exactly what I said."

"You're just saying that to spite me," she hissed, angry he hadn't just said it outright.

"Why would this Sesshoumaru spite you?"

Kikoru let free an exasperated sigh. "I give up! What is it with you people? You know! Kaede knows! Anyone who knew him would know I am his daughter! I've waited fifty years, Sesshoumaru! Granted, seventeen of those years were the only lucid ones, but still! Why won't anyone give me a gods-forsaken straight answer?!"

Sesshoumaru looked over at his ward, not deigning to answer his niece outright. "Rin, who does she look like? The one whom I loathe?"

Rin giggled, infuriating Kikoru even more. "Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama! He's with Kagome-chan! I think his name was…was…Oh! InuYasha! That's it!" She giggled again. "Yep! InuYasha!" All the pent-up anger and betrayal inside her flooded out instantly. She finally knew his name. How could she have been so stupid? Kikoru hardly paused to pick up her satchel before she bolted for home.

~*~

Running, running, running; past houses, people, farms, forests, plains, bushes, youkai. On and on she ran, not even stopping for food or water. She arrived at her village a day later, exhausted, and pounded on Kaede's door incessantly. "Aunt Kaede! Open up!" Kikoru half-whispered, completely drained.

The old woman came to the door, unfazed. "Good. You're home. Come in."

Kikoru flopped into an extra chair and glared at Kaede in the firelight. "How could you?" she asked indignantly, voice barely above the 'whispering wind' decibel.

"How could I what?" the woman asked, genuinely bewildered.

"Seventeen years, and you never told me?! How could you?! He was right there!" She wouldn't allow herself to cry. Kaede wasn't worth that, no matter what secrets she'd kept. 

"I am truly sorry," Kaede whispered, understanding now what she was hysterical about and wondering idly who had finally gotten up the gumption to tell her.

"Truly sorry?! If you were 'truly sorry', you would have told me ages ago! You wouldn't have let me go off and waste all these years of my life when he was right there!!!" Lacking the energy to remain perched in the chair, she collapsed on the floor, curling her arms around her knees as tears fell silently onto her arms. Well damn, there went that resolution. "How could you…?"

"If you had known, you would have interfered with the delicate balance of events. There would be no point in her coming if you had tried to wake him; you would have succeeded." Kaede hated having to explain the fates to youngsters - they believed too much in their own will, and not enough in those of the gods.

"Who? Who is 'she'?" she asked, her voice muffled by the shadow wolf pelt encasing her torso.

"I shan't tell you just now. They should return soon anyway--" There were shouts outside "--Ah! Here they are." Kaede rose and went to the window, and Kikoru followed, drying her eyes.

"InuYasha! How many times have I told you to use my name?" The girl was livid, eyes filling up with angry tears, even at this distance. "Especially when your terrible attempts at groveling go awry! Right after I save your ungrateful ass, you not only insult my person but go running off to that dead-bitch priestess of yours!"

"I wasn't chasing her, wench! I was following her to see if she'd found any shards!" InuYasha attempted an indignant snarl, but fell somewhat short of the mark.

"Oh, yeah, of course! You just happened to be searching with your mouth and not your eyes!"

"I was not! And anyway, when did you start cursing, woman?" A triumphant glee crossed his face, thinking he'd pulled a fast one and changed the subject.

"The moment I met the bastard who wouldn't use my gods-forsaken name! Since you're so keen on Kikyou, why don't you just SIT and think on her?" InuYasha face-planted the dirt with a thud, and the human took off.

The girl ran toward Kaede's hut, never pausing, never looking back, even when InuYasha was filling his hole with curses. "Kaede-san!" The girl burst through the door, much the same way Kikoru had done earlier. She slammed the door behind her, falling to her knees. Her wavy black hair fell around her face, sticking to the tear tracks. "Kaede-san, forgive me for being so stupid!" She buried her face in her hands.

Kikoru immediately went to her side, feeling a strong connection to the girl. "Hush…" she crooned, pulling the girl against her. "Shh…that's it. What's wrong?" Kikoru asked, pulling strands of hair away from her face. She looked very familiar…

"That bastard InuYasha. He doesn't want me to go home…Who are you?" she asked, looking up with tear-filled eyes. She looked no more than fifteen. Anything to get off the subject of her tormentor.

"I am Kikoru, Kaede's ward." She preened a bit.

"Oh. Kaede-san, I didn't know you had a ward! Oh – Excuse my manners, Kikoru. I'm Higurashi Kagome."

"Nice to meet you, Kagome. Kaede, InuYasha's eating dirt wouldn't be from your interference, would it? I know you so hate to interfere." Kikoru shot her aunt a dark look with the barb, noting the wicked gleam in the old woman's eye. 'Speak of the devil, here he comes now.' "What's the key word?"

"Oh, it probably won't work for you," Kaede's raised eyebrows went unnoticed, "but it's 'sit'." There was a *thud* outside, a mere three feet from the door. A sixteen-foot-deep hole now decorated the path.

Three figures and a cat jumped over it before entering, locking the door behind them. "Kagome-chan, don't worry. He'll pull the stick out of his ass someday soon. I hope." Another girl about Kikoru's age walked into a strand of fading sunlight, blocking her face from view momentarily. "Hello!" she greeted the hanyou kneeling next to her friend. "I heard Kaede-san got a new ward. Stand up, so I can see you better!"

Kikoru complied, shock decorating her features. "Sister? You – You've grown taller!"

"And you haven't, it seems. What are you now, Koru-chan?" Sango asked, hugging her tightly.

"Still 5 foot even. Jeez, Sango, you don't need to lord it over me! I could still grow!"

"I don't think so. You're as tall as you'll get," the monk behind her said. "My lady Kikoru, I am Miroku. Would you bear my chi--"

Kikoru started at him, muttering a dark "No," in the process. Sango slapped him across the face before Kikoru could, leaving a slightly purplish hand print.

"Jeez, Koru-chan. When'd the temper arise?" Shippou asked, attaching himself to one leg.

"In the last weeks since you left, Kit. You should've been born a chicken youkai. It would've suited your personality better." She ruffled his hair. "Good to see you."

"I agree completely," said a deep voice from the doorway.

Kaede lit a lamp as the final rays of the sun left the sky, plunging the room into darkness for a moment. Gold-speckled grey orbs met amber in the twilit room. She had sat, but rose again, keeping her eyes on his.

"Who are you?" came the rude question from the owner of the amber eyes. "You smell…familiar."

"Well duh!" Kaede coughed, and Kikoru growled a bit. "I played under the Goshinboku every day for eleven years." The two grey lights gleamed, filling. "It's quite amazing you remember my scent at all." She sniffed, desperately wanting to pelt his face with all he'd done wrong, just barely holding back.

"Who are you?" he asked, persisting. It wasn't just her scent that was familiar. Something about her face that he couldn't quite put a finger on…

She sighed, not really wanting to answer now that the confrontation had officially arrived. But someone beat her to it. "She is Kikoru, daughter of the Guardian and my only living relative." Kaede had purposefully dealt him a low blow.

"Only…living…relative?" InuYasha's jaw dropped. "But that means…"

"Yes. She was my sister's only daughter." Kaede smirked a bit.

"What?" all but Sango cried, looking a bit confused.

"I am Kikyou's daughter," Kikoru reiterated. The dawning realization of those words sent everyone into silence, but no-one more so than InuYasha.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer Reminder: I own neither YYH nor InuYasha, and stake my claim only on the original characters portrayed in this fanfiction.

AN: I do apologize for the insane amount of dialogue, but I couldn't figure out the best way to nix it without ruining the plot.... So deal.

Kikoru spent the next few weeks getting to know her new 'family.' She and InuYasha, while they didn't grow particularly close, did get to know each other better. He wasn't quite comfortable enough to allow her use of anything more endearing than his name, though he did catch himself trying to call her "Koru" every once in a while.

Kagome, on the other hand, absolutely adored the girl. Though she was two years her senior, Kagome's motherly instinct had kicked in just as hard as when she'd met Shippou, and she frequently found herself attempting to comfort Kikoru late into the night. While Kikoru didn't necessarily cry, she did come pretty close to ripping a particular hanyou apart more than a few times from sheer frustration. When Kagome wasn't playing mother, the three girls were inseparable.

Miroku had to content himself with "sly" glimpses every now and again, having learned firsthand what angering a power-charged hanyou did to a fellow. He'd once decided that spying on the girls' frequent baths was the sport of the week, and hadn't realized Kikoru was missing until she was stringing him up by his toes in the nearest pine tree. She didn't leave him there for long, but the lesson had stuck to him faster than honey did flies.

The band traveled all over, looking for the Shikon no Tama shards. They bumped into Kouga a couple times; Ayame chased him off again before Kikoru could get more than a passing glance at him. Wolves weren't her type, anyway, especially those who kept shards away from Kagome. She stepped on one, but her foot healed so quickly she didn't even realize it was there. Though it did itch at her every once in awhile.

She got plenty of weapons practice as well, seeing as every youkai in that part of Japan was after Kagome's shards. Sango even allowed her the use of the Hiraikotsu once. That didn't turn out too well, considering the first time she'd thrown it in a while, the stupid thing had blasted a tree clean out of the path of the oncoming rhinoceros youkai. Not only did she feel the loss of the tree quite keenly, but it would have slowed the attacker's charge. InuYasha ended up saving them all in the nick of time – as usual. Needless to say Kikoru didn't ever so much as breathe at the boomerang again.

Around the girls' half-birthdays, Kagome invited Kikoru to visit her time; not only had most of the 'family' had seen it already, the girls had realized sometime back they were born on the same day, and desperately needed a real celebration. Kagome also had the slight dilemma of an exam in school.

Kikoru packed her medicines, extra food, and various herbs, and was ready to leave. The inside of her satchel was spelled to hold much more than that, but she deemed it unnecessary. She also strapped on her knives, not knowing what sort of problems her danger-prone friend would attract.

"Are you ready?" Kagome's voice traveled into Kaede's hut where Kikoru was currently packing.

"Yes! I'll be right out." Kikoru strode out the door and hugged Kaede, Sango, and Shippou. Miroku's arms were outstretched for a hug, a lecherous grin spread wide across his mouth. "Ah…no," she said, glaring at him, bowing politely instead.

Kikoru followed Kagome to the well, looking around worriedly. "Where's my fa-InuYasha?" She'd wanted to say goodbye to him, too. Who knew how well he could handle himself without Kagome to keep him in line?

"I'm not sure. But, knowing him…" Kagome stopped, eye catching on the red-clad figure up ahead. "Well, damn."

"How long?" he demanded languorously when they approached, bored from his lurking.

"A week," Kagome replied, sighing. Kikoru could tell this process was almost ritualistic from Kagome's expression. Almost as if she was waiting for – no, expecting the answer he gave.

"No." His face was expressionless. Kikoru wondered idly if he would go running to Kikyou once they'd left, if this oncoming Armageddon was just a ruse so Kagome wouldn't discover his trysts, but knew deep down it wasn't entirely true.

"I'm going, and you can't stop me."

"I can, and I will. No more than three days." Kikoru could tell her father didn't want them to go at all. Even he knew he couldn't keep her here. But he could sure as Hell try.

Kikoru, at that particular moment, had a vision of sorts. She saw her father eating dirt, and Kagome dragging her toward the well at full speed. And then--

"SIIIIIIIT!" Two seconds later they were flying into the well. Kikoru braced herself and hit the floor rolling, purple mist _poof_-ing around her body. "Come on!" Kagome hissed, climbing a ladder that hadn't been there before.

"Kagome, why do we have to hurry?" Kikoru asked, climbing out after her.

"He can still bring us back." Kagome hurried her toward the house, glancing back often.

"He won't come," she replied, shocking her friend.

"What? Of course he will!"

"Do you want him to?" Kikoru prompted, a knowing twinkle in her eye. He emerged from the well house and darted to the trees, out of Kagome's vision. "Well? Do you want him to come?"

"Yes," Kagome whispered, blushing hotly.

"I thought so. It's just…sometimes it takes an outsider to point out what the two people haven't quite grasped." Kagome's cheeks blossomed into an even deeper shade of crimson, a color Kikoru hadn't previously thought existed. "I'm sure she would forgive your feelings if she knew," she continued in a whisper to the trees, knowing InuYasha could hear.

"What?" Kagome asked, flush fading as she led the way into the house. "Didn't catch that last."

"Oh, nothing. Talking to myself is all."

"That's my girl; messing with people's private lives…feh. But come to think of it…She might be right…"

~*~

"Mom! I'm home!" Kagome yelled, voice ringing through the house.

"Kagome!!!" A minuscule blur hit her midsection, knocking her back a few feet into Kikoru. "You're home!"

"Well! Souta's certainly happy to see you." An older woman came into view. "Kagome, dear, how was it this time?" The woman welcomed her daughter into a hug.

"Where's InuYasha?" Souta interrupted loudly, eager to beat his friend at the Nintendo again.

"Calm down, Souta-kun! It was…interesting, Mom. Souta, InuYasha wasn't a good boy, so I had to leave him back ho-in the Sengoku Jidai."

"Hello, there," Mrs. Higurashi said softly, eyes lighting on Kikoru. "Come in, child. Don't be frightened. I'm Donna Higurashi. This is Souta, and here comes Jii-chan."

"Oh. Good evening, Higurashi-san. Souta-kun. Jii-san," Kikoru greeted, bowing, polite as ever. "I am Kikoru. It's good to meet all of you."

"Oh, come now, don't be so formal, Kikoru! Any friend of Kagome's is a friend of ours. Come on in and sit a spell. What would you like to drink?"

"Tea is fine, thanks."

"So, what brings you here?" Mrs. H asked, pouring for her.

"Kagome." As if it weren't obvious at all.

"I figured as much. Why, though, might I ask?" Mrs. H didn't seem to mind her stand-offish attitude one bit.

"Well, she's Kaede's niece," Kagome interrupted, "and we have the same birthday."

"So how old are you, Kikoru?" Mrs H continued.

"Seventeen, two months ago." _Give or take thirty plus years, anyway. _

"Is there any other reason for your visit?"

"Kagome asked me to come."

"Hey, Mom? When's my exam?" Kagome asked suddenly, changing the subject rather obviously. She wasn't sure where her mother was going with this line of questioning, but it was making Kagome, at least, uncomfortable.

"Wednesday. Friday is the end of semester."

"Oh, ok. Can we have oden tonight?"

"Of course! It's a celebration! Take Kikoru to the guest bedroom to settle in. Supper will be ready around 7 or so!" She ushered them toward the stairs.

"Come on! Before Jii-chan recognizes your au--Crap."

"Come back here, you demon! I shall purify you!" Jii-chan threw an odufa at his guest, already chanting wildly. The "demon" grabbed it from the air, silencing him mid-word.

"Jii-san, did your Sensei ever tell you that odufa don't work on priestesses?" Kikoru flattened her ears against her skull. Apparently her glamour had either worn off or didn't work on old geezers. Perfect.

The old man looked astonished. "A miko? You, an inuyoukai? Bah!"

In stead of answering, she made the odufa float above her hand. Silvery-green fire, a detachment of her aura, erupted around the warding spell, engulfing it instantly. As fast as they appeared, the flames receded into her hand, revealing the astonished faces of both Kagome and her grandfather. "Proof enough, Jiijii?" she asked, sneering spitefully.

Kagome and Jii-chan just stood and blinked. "You were showing me to the guest room?" Kikoru prompted, brightening as if her wanton display of power was nothing at all.

"Oh…right…" Kagome led her dazedly up the steps. "My room's right over here." She paused. "Why did you do that?"

"Your grandfather pisses me off," she said simply, her ears starting to pin again.

"What did he do?"

"Feh. He just reminds me of Miroku. Are you sure the two of them aren't related?"

"Maybe. Do you need anything?"

"Nah, thanks though."

"Okay, I'll be in my room if you do."

"Kagome?" The younger girl turned. "Thanks for bringing me."

She smiled. "No problem." Her mom called. "There's supper. Drop your things and come on!"


	6. Chapter 5

"Oden!!!" Kagome squealed. "No one makes good oden in the past!"

"This is very good, Mrs. Higurashi. What's it made of?" Kikoru did not inherit her father's eating habits, but she did catch his appetite.

"Chicken," she replied. "I'm glad you like it."

"Demons eating at my table! Bah! What is the world coming to?" Jii-chan glared at the offending girl. "And a half-breed, no less!"

She replied with a single-fingered salute. "Damn you, old man. Why don't you ever look past people's 'faults'? Kagome," Kikoru turned to her friend, "now I know where you get your stubborn streak. Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Higurashi." She walked into the yard, then hopped into the Goshinboku, having dubbed it her sanctuary upon arrival.

She snuggled into a niche in the tree, remembering the years she had played under it, spoken to her mother, to her 'father' while he slept. The memories soon sent her into a contented doze.

Kikoru rose an hour later to watch the sunset, then went back up to her room through the window. She collapsed on the bed, then grabbed her satchel and pulled out a sprig of chickweed to snack on, suddenly feeling much better with food in her stomach again. She fell onto the bed, slipping easily into a deep and dreamless sleep.

She awoke before dawn to a very itchy foot. Upon scratching her heel, she found a pointed end in it. Kikoru dug it out, wincing a bit with the pain, and staunched the blood flow. She then limped to the adjoining bathroom and rinsed off the object.

The light shone through the offending thingamabob and danced along the opposite wall. The crystal was a light pink, and sharper than a blade. She ran to Kagome's room on silent feet and slid open the door.

"Kagome!" she whispered, prodding her. "Kagome, wake up!"

"Nnrgh…" She rose, rubbing her eyes. "What is it, Koru-chan?"

"I found a shard!" She held it up, and a pink glow emanated from it now that it was near its brethren again.

"Where?" Kagome was really awake now. "How did it get here?"

"It was in my foot! I don't know, but I think it's been there for a while."

"Give it here; I'll put it away. Now go back to bed! It's not even dawn!"

"Alright. Sleep well."

"Nigh…" Kagome couldn't even finish a proper benediction without falling asleep first. Kikoru covered her up, then leapt out the window into the Goshinboku. It seemed sleeping was easier in her old friend than that cushy bed. When sleep claimed the girl again, she dreamed she slipped from the Goshinboku's limbs into the accepting arms of her father.

Kikoru stumbled into the house well after sunrise the next morning. She hadn't slept so well in a long while, and was quite content to watch Mrs. H deal with her father as only Mrs. H could. Watching the two of them argue was almost as much fun as watching Miroku seduce Sango, though with nowhere near the shock value.

Jii-chan would start off muttering something about a demon in the house. Mrs. H would make some comment about Jii-chan's apparent lack of brains, and he would return with some insult about her inability to raise children. Of course, this would hit a nerve, so she would end up chasing him around the house with a frying pan. By the time the two made it back to the kitchen, they were huffing and puffing and laughing so hard they'd fall over. They'd sit and recover a while, then Kikoru would comment on something or other and set Jii-chan – and the cycle – off again.

This hum-diggery lasted for a good three hours, during which time Kikoru slipped out to the yard after her lunch. As funny as the two were, she was about laughed out. As she emerged from the house, InuYasha pounced on her. "Where is she?" he demanded, impatient to have them home already.

"You're a bloody mother hen!" Kikoru told him matter-of-factly, brushing by him to settle against the Great Tree. "You two agreed on a week. It's only been four days."

InuYasha merely glared and stalked over to sit beside her. "I didn't agree to anything." He was pouting. The great son of InuTaishou _pouted_. Double-yew Tea Eph? (Don't ask her what it meant. She'd just heard Kagome use it a…few…times.)

"But you didn't exactly tell her you didn't, either," Kikoru pointed out. She'd been there, after all. InuYasha just glared. "What? Women don't understand men. It's a fact of life."

"Yeah, well…"

"Deep subject there. Any reason you mentioned it?" she prompted, raising an eyebrow.

He sat dumbfounded. "Wha?" It took a moment (or ten) but realization finally dawned. "Oh. Yeah. Guess I'd better go, then, since she's not back yet."

" Gosh, Dad, we'll miss you," came the not unexpected quip.

InuYasha merely muttered something to the effect of "Ungrateful wretch", but Kikoru deigned ignore it since he jumped back down the well soon after.

Kagome returned about an hour later, wiped out from her finals and having to explain away various rumors about her latest absence. She crashed for a bit on the couch, and when she woke, Kikoru told her what had transpired. Kagome nodded and said, "He'll be back."

And, sure enough, InuYasha returned the next morning, screaming about getting back _now_. Kagome knew better than to argue. He'd put up with five days. It was the most she'd gotten out of him since they met, and she'd just have to be content. When he began ushering them, though, she had to put down the proverbial foot – or in InuYasha's case, dog. "Sit."

"He must really like eating dirt," Kikoru murmured on the way back to the house.

"Come to think of it, I _do_ have an extra subduing necklace somewhere," Kagome replied, only half jesting. Kikoru made a face which dissolved them both into giggles. "Come on, get your things."

The girls made it back downstairs in twenty minutes flat, Kagome lugging her huge yellow duffel behind her. Kikoru had to be content with her bespelled leather saddlebag.

"You don't carry much around, do you?" Kagome asked her after saying goodbye to her family.

"Not really. An extra set of clothes. Mostly herbs." She showed off the inside. The walls of the bag were lined with herbs – vials, tinctures, dried plants, living plants. Kikoru had long ago learned the art of keeping a plant alive in her bag. It meant she couldn't have her power completely charged at any one time, but it was a give and take cycle, and she didn't use that much of it anyway. She liked fighting with her hands more.

They were almost to the well when Kagome swore. Loudly. "I left my bow," she deadpanned, already striding toward the house.

"Kagome!" Kikoru stopped her and swiveled her toward the well. "I'll get it. InuYasha will shit bricks until next week if you don't get there soon."

Kagome saw the logic in this and sighed. "If you're sure. But hurry!" Kikoru nodded and was back at the well house as Kagome jumped in. She tossed the bow in and Kagome caught as she was enveloped in purple dust, both disappearing a second later.

Not wanting the magic to be gone, Kikoru took a dive after her friend, closed her eyes, and hit the ground rolling. When she came to a stop on her back, she opened her eyes, glad to be – wait. A roof? What happened to the sky? And the ladder was still – oh. She swore. Profusely. She'd given Kagome the shard only last night. The shard that allowed her access to the well's magic. The shard that was supposed to get her home.

The shock of being stuck here sent her into such a fury as Kikoru had never known. She railed the gods, cursed in every language she knew, pounded on the floor, even went so far as to jump in five or ten times. But nothing worked.

She hadn't yet tried her powers. Maybe she could force the gates of time open? She punched the floor of the well experimentally, imbuing her fist with a detachment of her aura. Silvery-green pockmarks soon dotted the floor. She couldn't stop. Her hands were bloody, battered, and bruised, and she couldn't stop. The door of the well house creaked, and Souta poked his head in. "Koru-chan?" he asked softly. He didn't want her to turn on him with those punches.

This seemed to break her spell. She sat back on her heels and gazed at the destruction she'd wrought. Holes littered the well, not just on the floor anymore. Silver-green was _everywhere_. It had to be at least three inches thick in some places. "Sorry, Souta." She stood up and retracted her aura. Not that it did her any good. Every demon within a hundred miles would know exactly where she was. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She'd put the family in danger. And for what? What if she'd gotten through? Who would have protected them then? She was an idiot.

Kikoru sprang out of the well, ignoring the ladder completely. "Go back in the house, Souta," she murmured, waving him off. "I'm fine." He nodded, knowing better than to argue. Smart kid.

By the time the lid was back on the well and the doors were sealed again, Kikoru was ready to face the family, her disgrace hid firmly behind a mask. She focused so much on her predicament, however, that she completely forgot her training and walked right into a pair of fellows striding purposefully toward the well.

"Oh." Such articulation! Kikoru amazed even herself sometimes. She recovered quickly. "How can I help you two gentlemen?" Their timing was too perfect to be coincidence. They must have come to investigate her tantrum. Thank the gods she'd remembered her glamour when Souta had arrived. "You smell like roses," she told the taller one before she realized she'd spoken. _Idiot_.

"Why thank you," he replied, bowing slightly. "This is Jaganshi Hiei, and I am Tsukoya Shuichi."

"It's good to meet you," she said, bowing in return. She didn't give her name. Instead she rephrased her earlier question. "Why are you here?"

"Don't be arrogant, woman." The shorter one – Jaganshi? – possessed the _most_ intriguing head of hair she'd ever seen: short, black, and gravity-defying, with a little white offset starburst. His arm looked like it'd been burned a while back; the wrappings looked hospital grade.

"It speaks?" Kikoru shot back. Her eyes never left Tsukoya's. "You might want to try feeding it fewer insults, Tsukoya." As if she knew how to raise a pet!

The short one growled menacingly. Or at least tried to. His partner was laughing too hard for it to be very effective. "Onna, we are here to–"

"See the well," Tsukoya interrupted. "We've heard so much about it." She didn't miss the slight wince as Tsukoya stepped on the shorter man's foot.

"I can't help you there," Kikoru confided. "I'm visiting. I _think_ it was built in the fourteenth century, but don't quote me. Apparently it's been known to have a demon or two inside, if you believe such nonsense. 'S why they call it the 'Bone Eater's Well'. But again, that's all hearsay. You'd wanna talk to Jii-chan. He's been monk here for a good long while now."

"Alright, thank you for your help. We might be able to stop by tomorrow before we head out of town." Again, Tsukoya seemed to speak just before Jaganshi could open his mouth. Seemed like they'd been together a while.

"It's no problem. I think they open it for tourists about nine or so. Have a good night!" Kikoru turned toward the house, her dismissal obvious, listening intently for their fading footsteps. Once she judged they'd started down the many steps, she scrambled up the trunk of her sanctuary.

"Hey! Onna!" Jaganshi's voice floated up to her. Apparently he hadn't followed his partner. Kikoru just ignored him. He'd go away eventually.

'Eventually', however, was more than she could stand. "_What_?" she barked, throwing an acorn at his head. "Gods above, man, go home. At least you can!" She wouldn't cry. She'd promised herself – damn. Kikoru wiped away the angry tear threatening to fall.

"What?" His confusion was more than evident.

"You lummox! Go _home_, I said! Sweet gods, I wish Father were here. He could take me home." She wiped another tear. What was _with_ her? She usually _never_ cried!

"Where is your father?" Tsukoya asked from below her. Gods, why couldn't they just leave?

"Dead, dead, dead. All of them dead." Cue the madness. Was she really this pathetic?

"Gods above. You poor child…"

"I don't need your pity. Cherish your families, kids. Sometimes you never get the chance."

'_Come on, Kurama. We're done here._' Hiei said.

"Gee, shrimp, really? You were done ten minutes ago." Futilely, she tossed another acorn at them.

'_You're a telepath?_' Hiei sent, shock evident in his mindvoice.

'_Well you _**did**_ send it on an open channel, youkai. Leave. Now. Before I get even more pissed._' And, surprisingly, they did.


End file.
